I was told about this yesterday and did not believe it. I am at a loss here, while the Inter American is in better shape than most of the roads in central America I would not want to go much over 80MPH myself in a car. There are dips and high spots that can be deadly at high speeds.

Seems like this is something better left for the salt flats. Besides with publicity like this our secret little life here will get out, next thing ya know we will be over run with Costa Rica type foreigners and have to pay $25 for a hamburger!

Hi Scott. Most of the people living in CR already know that things are cheaper in Panama. I don’t know how many times I have gone to PriceSmart and met people coming on a bi monthly voyage to buy things.

I am interested to see how they pull off the speed test. I could be that they have no expectations to break any record but are solely interested in the marketing of the show. I bet a lot of people will turn out to see a jet powered car.

A friend of mine, Frank Hilson, who owns a house in Balboa, and once a promising road racer before a horrible crash that burned him over a great deal of his body, is a friend of Jim “Jet” Neilson. He sent me information about Neilson’s attempt at the record. I’m familiar with David and asked the question that must be on everyone’s mind and asked Frank, “Where the hell is he going to do this?” This is what I got back from Frank…

JIM IS A GOOD FRIEND…..I THINK HE IS MAD TO ATTEMPT THIS ON HIGHWAY……BUMPY AT 50 MPH MUCH LESS 400MPH…….HE WAS GOING TO DO IT AT HOWARD AFB…..MAKES SENSE THERE….NEAR PANAMA CITY….$$$$….AND FLAT WITH RUN OFF….

HIS RECORD IS FOR THE HIGHWAY..5 MILES WILL BE BLOCKED OFF….NOT SALT FLATS…ETC..

Don, we have been following very closely all the developments for the race, interestingly enough I was going to see Jim´s race tomotrrow and checked on his website. The website is gone…. Is there something fishy going on here ???

Hello, great people! i was reading the Fans pages of Jim Jet Neilson and i see a comment from Jim Jet Neilson that says : “Hi all, Thank you for the good luck wishes, they are greatly appreciated! The race has been postponed for a few months. I will keep you updated when I have more information. Aloha…Jim Jet”, it this true?? today won’t be the race??

The event is very much still on – current plan is to run in front of Chiriqui Mall on Sunday 6th June and everything is looking exceptionally good for this date. It was pushed back to allow the tourist board to promote the event to a greater degree and to allow the event to be increased in size, with three to four music events and parties held in the weeks preceding the event.

For now, the car is back in the Mall and engine testing due to start in the coming week at David airport.

The website did have one or two technical issues, but the new one is under construction as we speak and hopefully will be running late next week. I’ll certainly let you know once it’s on-line.

Jim is still going to do this run on 6th June despite suffering several severe setbacks, the least of which being his “business partner” leaving him virtually penniless and with no funding whatsoever to make the run. He has resorted to raiding the penny bank and selling his yacht to ensure that the run goes ahead as planned.

Unfortunately, I will still be stuck at sea next Sunday but have spoken with Jim on almost a daily basis and he assures me that his supporters and all those that he promised to make the run will not be disappointed.

From one of the comments, I understand the run is on. If I learn more, I will post it. I have heard that the car is on display in the Chiriqui Mall, but I haven’t stopped to see if that is true. If it is on display, then most likely there is a schedule posted.

I have spoken with Jim this evening and I’m sorry to announce that the run has been delayed once more. This is to allow the government to put all of the preparations in place and make this the event that it should be. I understand that this is a bit of a blow at this late stage, however, Jim had a meeting with the Assistant Governor earlier today and has been assured that this will be the final postponement.

On the plus side, engine tests of the car are ongoing and all is looking extremely promising for a good showing on the day.

There will be a full press conference in the coming days but I can say now that the date for the run is now 10th July.

I will be back in Panama (hopefully) next week and will be working closely with Jim on this one so if I can be of any assistance in answering questions, please drop me a line and I’ll dop my best to answer

Tomorrow, we head to Panama City in order to meet with representatives of the Panama government. We hope to be able to make public our intentions shortly afterwards but, for now, we can conform that it is unlikely that the run happens on 10th July.

Currently, we can reveal that Jim has suffered numerous setbacks including, but not limited to, legal difficulties, embezzlement by individuals in senior team management and technical difficulties with the car itself – we are in the process of investigating and rectifying damage caused to the engine by what only can be described as deliberate sabotage by persons yet to be identified. We are more than happy to discuss this with you in person and to display the vehicle and the items under investigation. In order to ensure that the vehicle is in a safe and serviceable condition, it will now be necessary to strip back the bodywork to the lower structure and confirm that all is as expected. Obviously, this will take some time but we continue to maintain close links with the government and remain fully committed to the record attempt as soon as is possible.

We can fully understand and appreciate the frustration and disappointment that this is causing but, believe us, you wouldn’t believe what is going on behind the scenes…!!

In spite of these setbacks, we are happy to announce the re-launch of the website and also hope to be able to announce a major news event early next week. Please bear with us and if there are any questions, please address them here, or to our e-mail address at panamaworldrecord@gmail.com

Jim will be coming down to Panama later this week for further meetings with officials and, hopefully, we will be able to disclose some further information after that. There are several developments currently ongoing and it looks as though we may have to postpone once more. Should this be the case, we will be holding a full press conference to keep everyone informed as to what is happening and to the exact details of the full event.

Apologies for lack of information at this time but please bear with us. The wait will be worth it…!!